India’s Asiad tally at 46, five boxers in gold hunt (Roundup)

Guangzhou, Nov 24 (IANS) Five Indian boxers were eyeing golds while four settled for the bronze at the Asian Games here Wednesday on a day of heartbreak when woman World champion pugilist MC Mary Kom crashed out of the semifinals to rest content with a bronze.

Vikas Krishan (60kg), Santhosh Kumar Virothu (64kg), Vijender Singh (75kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) assured themselves of atleast a silver medal as they booked their place in the title clash after winning their respective semifinal bouts at the Foshan Gymnasium.

Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) had to settle for the brone medal after they lost their semi-final bouts and in the women’s category, Kavita Goyat (69-75kg) suffered Mary Kom’s fate.

Armyman Tarundeep Rai won the lone silver in the men’s individual recurve event as India finished their archery campaign at the Asian Games with a silver and two bronze medals, their best ever performance in the event.

The men’s and women’s kabaddi teams, favourites for the gold, stormed into the semifinals with dominating victories. Ashwini Chidananda Akkunji and Jauna Murmu qualified for the women’s 400 metres hurdles with personal best timings.

The Indian women’s hockey team, however, went down 0-1 to Japan through the golden goal to finish fourth at the Asiad.

India’s 46 medals after the 12th day of competitions comprise seven gold, 13 silver and 26 bronze but the country has slipped to 10th place in the tally.

China head the table with 352 medals (173-93-86), followed by South Korea-211 (71-59-81) and Japan-176 (36-66-74). Iran, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Kazakhstan are the other countries above India.

Vikas won 7-0 against Hurshid Tojibaev of Uzbekistan in the men’s 60kg semifinal while Dinesh defeated Nepal’s Deepak Maharjan in the semifinal of the 81kg.

In the final, Vikas will face China’s Hu Qing, who beat South Korean Soon Chul Han 10-7 and Dinesh will be up against Uzbekistan’s Elshod Rasulov, who defeated China’s Meng Fanlong 12-1.

Santhosh outpunched Wuttichai Masuk of Thailand 5-1 to enter the final of the men’s 64kg, where he takes on Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan, who outclassed Uzbek Sanjarbek Rahmanov 6-0.

World No.1 Vijender earned a hard fought 10-7 win over Mohammad Sattarpour of Iran. In the final, Vijender will face Uzbekistan’s Abbos Atoev, who won 9-5 against Kazhakstan’s Danabek Suzhanov.

In the men’s 91kg, Manpreet thrashed Tajikistan’s Jakhon Qurbonov 10-2 for a place in the final, where he will face Syrian Mohammad Ghossoun.

The men’s +91kg semi-final bout between Paramjeet and Zhang Zhilei had to be stopped by the referee in the dying seconds of the third round as the Chinese out-scored the Indian 15-3.

In the women’s section, gold medal hope Mary Kom lost to Ren Cancan of China 7-11 in the semifinals and settled for a women’s boxing bronze.

Kavita Goyat lost 1-5 to in the 69-75 kg weight category.

The Indian men’s squash team lost 0-2 to top seeds and arch-rivals Pakistan while the women went down to fancied Malaysia with an identical scoreline at the Asian Games Town Gymnasium. Both settled for the bronze.

India’s Siddharth Suchde, world No.73, had his chances against Farhan Mehboob, world no.30 but lost 14-16, 12-10, 9-11, 5-11.

India’s no.1 Saurav Ghoshal, ranked 25th in the world, lost 13-15, 11-5, 5-11, 6-11 to world no.23 Aamir Atlas Khan, who belongs to the clan of legendary Pakistani Jansher Khan.

The women’s match was a one-sided affair. India’s Anaka Alankamony lost 2-11, 4-11, 6-11 to Low Wee Wern in 22 minutes while world no.37 Joshana Chinappa went down tamely to World no.1 Nicol David 4-11, 2-11 3-11 and team had to settle for a bronze.

The men’s kabaddi team, which has won five gold medals in the sport since its inception at the 1990 Beijing edition, eased past South Korea 37-19 to top Group A ahead of Bangladesh, South Korea and Nepal.

They next play Japan for a place in the final Thursday. The other semifinal will be between Pakistan and Iran.

The women’s event, which is making its Asian Games debut, has given India the opportunity to add one more gold to its medals tally. They defeated South Korea 47-21 to come first in Pool B and will now play Iran in the semifinals Thursday. The other teams in the pool are Bangladesh and Nepal.